94 WYTHE AVE.

HIP HOP HISTORY SERIES

hosted by Pete Miser

PILOT EPISODE- BREAKING

FEATURING ROKAFELLA and KWIKSTEP

HOSTED BY

PETE MISER

Pete Miser is a Brooklyn-based Hip Hop artist, producer and DJ. His obsession with Hip Hop culture began in the unlikely city of Portland, Oregon and has landed him on the Late Show with David Letterman, the Tonight Show, the live stages of MTV2 and several dozen countries around the world. He has produced tracks with and for artists ranging from Chuck D, to Melanie Fiona to Pete Rock to Reggae Dancehall legend, Half Pint. He has spent more than ten years of his life on tour, first as the leader of 5 Fingers Of Funk, the nine-piece live hip hop band from Portland, Oregon and more recently, as the live DJ for Jay Records artist, Dido.

In addition to his work for album release, Pete is an accomplished composer of music for picture. He has created original music for feature films including Freakonomics, Everything Is Illuminated, Planet Bboy and The House I Live In. His commercial work has supported brands as diverse as Bacardi, Nike, Revlon and the New York Knicks. Most recently, Pete Miser and co-composer, Peter Nashel teamed up with Jay Z’s Rocnation to create the original score for the new CBS television series, NYC 22.

By recording, mixing and sampling ensembles of live instruments, Pete Miser creates completely original works with the authentic head nod of traditional sampled Hip Hop. This signature sound provides the bedrock for lyrics that alternate between playful, and introspective on his latest full length release, Honest Mistakes

UPCOMING

EPISODES

From his eponymous store on E 125th in Harlem, Dapper Dan (real name Daniel Day) presided over a remarkable fashion emporium in the 80s and 90s. His uptown clientele was a heady mix of hustlers, street cats and hip hop royalty, all of whom shared a mutual love of what Dap himself called a ‘macho type of ethnic ghetto clothing’. That’s Harlem shorthand for streetified-luxury, a glorious melange of status symbols such as mink, ostrich, crocodile and python married with his own trademark ‘reappropriatons’ of Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Fendi yardage.

LL Cool J, Big Daddy Kane, Salt ‘n’ Pepa, Run DMC, Fat Boys and Public Enemy publicly repped Dapper Dan hard and his fame quickly spread beyond the local hood. Peep Eric B and Rakim’s Follow the Leader and Paid in Full for classic Dapper Dan outfits in full effect. Mike Tyson famously punched out opponent Mitch Green in front of the store whilst on his way to pick up the classic ‘Don’t Believe the Hype’ jacket. The place became notorious.

Jackets, bags, hats, two-tone jumpsuits with all-over prints – there was nothing Dapper Dan wouldn’t cover in acres of hand-printed and embossed leather. Gucci seat covers, LV-inspired upholstery and a famous convertible lid for Rakim’s Jeep showed Dap’s talent for entreprenurial diversification. Another iconic ensemble was a Louis Vuitton jacket with huge gold Mercedes badges. Less well known were the sneakers that matched his jackets, but shoes were definitely on the menu at Dapper Dan’s. The Fat Boys for example repped Nike Air Force 1s with Gucci Swooshes on the cover of their long player Crushin’. Nearly everything was a one-off designed for an individual, making Dapper Dan one of the OG customisers.

As his fame and fortune grew, the European fashion houses swooped. Infuriated by the very public knock-off of their trademarks and inflamed by their utter rejection of black, urban culture, they took legal action against Dap and he went underground